As South Africans are getting ready to get on the road and travel for the summer holidays, they will have to anticipate petrol price hikes.
This comes as oil prices plunge to their lowest levels since last year, diesel prices look set to decrease from record highs next week, but if your car uses petrol, you may still see a hike.
According to the latest information from the Central Energy Fund, petrol prices may go up by 38c to 48c per litre on Wednesday.
However, diesel users may be spared from paying more as there will be a decrease from record-high levels, and currently looks set for a decrease of between R1.29 and R1.35 a litre.
BusinessTech Africa has discovered that fuel prices are usually adjusted on the first Wednesday of a month and determined by the price of oil and the rand-dollar exchange rate.
Looking at the numbers for Monday this week, Brent crude oil fell almost 2% to $82 per barrel and it is now down almost 11% over the past month and has lost 20% since the end of August 2022.
In the wake of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia earlier this year, it traded above $130.
As reported by News24, oil came under renewed pressure as concerns grew about the outlook for the Chinese economy. While China’s daily Covid-19 cases hit new record highs, strict lockdowns are being enforced, which will hit China’s economic growth.
Covering the same topic, Bloomberg published a sharp decline in peak-hour traffic congestion data from the Chinese search engine Baidu.
“On Monday in Beijing, traffic was down 45% from a year ago, while in Guangzhou it was 35% lower. Crowds are protesting the Chinese lockdowns, raising fears of a crackdown,” posted News24.
“Over the weekend, the US government has also granted energy giant Chevron a licence to restart oil production in Venezuela as it eased three-year-old sanctions against the county and this will come as relief and add to oil supplies.”
Meanwhile, European Union members are still locked in talks about a new price ceiling that will be imposed on Russian oil shipments in a move that is seen as retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine.
At the same time, G7 nations plan to introduce the cap on December 5 and various companies will be banned from handling Russian oil cargo – unless it’s sold for less than the price ceiling. The cap is expected to be set around $60 a barrel.
Following another hike at the start of this month, the Gauteng diesel price is now at R25.49 a litre – a new record high when compared to last year’s price which was around R17.20 per litre.
Dubbed the country’s economic hub, 95 petrol costs R22.87 a litre in Gauteng, compared to R19.54 in 2021 – but down from a peak of R26.74 in July.
